Body fat question

Giaspo

OK so since reading AndreaJulia's post yesterday, I've taken an interest in body fat. I've been googling and reading all day.

Has anyone worked specifically towards this goal of lowering body fat ? I'd love a primer if there is one.

TIA!

Sephiroth

There are a lot of resources for this, but the main takeaway is that you're not just dieting to drop pounds - you're trying to build (or at least maintain) lean muscle mass at the same time. So most of the advice isn't going to be  low fat yogurt, rice cakes, and endless cardio. Instead it's going to be increasing your protein, don't limit your fat too much, 5-6 meals a day, lifting heavy weights (no you will not bulk up as a girl), and doing HIIT cardio.

Look for resources that are in the bodybuilding world. No, you're not going to be a bodybuilder, but they have the absolute corner on bodyfat reduction.

More protein. Lift heavy weights.

firsttimersluck

Yyyyupppp. That's all I have been doing this past year, Gia. 

My measurements aren't going to budge much (at this point, neither is my bf %) so that's all I have really been paying attention to. 

unchatenfrance

Also I want to add that if you're at a healthy body weight (what your body considers healthy, not what you want to look like on the beach in an ideal universe) - in other words, if you're at a homeostatic point that is easy for you to maintain, be prepared for progress to be slow, perhaps even glacially slow, unless you go the extreme bodybuilder/fitness model route. I'm in the mid-20s and my body refuses to budge no matter what I do. I can see a bit of a difference (mostly abs and shoulders) when I compare photos of myself from today to 2-3 years ago, but that's about it. Nothing to write home about. So my strategy has basically come down to increasing my strength and stamina while making sure i'm not gaining fat. :-)

Also, if you're at a healthy set point and trying to lean out, throw away the scale and use calipers or biometric impedance tests. The scale will be useless, especially as your weight may appear to increase due to increased muscle and bone density from the increased strength training and extra protein.